Former Mexican President Vicente Fox On Why Prohibition Is A Failure

High Times just lately had the fortune, privilege and honor of interviewing Mexico’s former President Vicente Fox, a person whose concepts stand near libertarianism. The state, the federal government, shouldn’t intervene in individuals’s lives until their selections have an effect on third events, he’s argued very often.

Discussing hashish legalization and the enterprise alternatives that comply with, Mr. Fox talked about he truly supported the legalization of all medicine, not simply hashish. We have been hooked: not typically can we get to listen to the previous president of one of many world’s prime 15 economies, of a G-20 nation, defend the legalization of mushrooms, cocaine and LSD.

His argument is predicated on two primary premises:

Keeping medicine unlawful has generated nothing however violence. “We’ve seen so much violence, hundreds of thousands of young people die in the hands of drug-related violence over the last decade… It makes no sense,” Mr. Fox identified throughout our chat. “Drug lords have taken control of the markets, trafficking and the transit of drugs to the United States, and this has complicated things everywhere.”

The illegality of medicine goes towards the idea of particular person liberty. “I am an intense believer in freedom. I think all prohibitions should disappear off the face of the earth – except for those limiting anything that affects a third party,” he defined.

“Prohibition doesn’t work and has never worked,” Mr. Fox argued, mentioning the instance of Adam and Eve who, he thinks, may need by no means taken a chew off the Forbidden Apple if God had defined why it was dangerous for them as an alternative of straight out banning them from consuming it.

“We need to transform prohibition into regulation,” he stated. Consumers have to have the liberty to determine what they need. But, earlier than this could occur, we’d like schooling, entry to info and time for individuals to digest this new info, to get snug with this new paradigm the place the individuals maintain themselves and each other, as an alternative of counting on the state to try this, he argued.

“We need to stop thinking that the government will protect our children and families from drugs. That has never happened. Only educating at home we’ll be able to create consciousness around the fact that what’s important is moderation, rather than prohibition,” he supplemented.

Legalize It All

Drug legalization will create a reliable enterprise group and put it in arms of trustworthy entrepreneurs as an alternative of criminals like we see right now, Mr. Fox voiced. “In fact, legalization will help us create opportunities for many people who have been turned into criminals by this unjust system; people are not born criminals, they are pushed toward crime by the lack of opportunity.”

“But, as we re-legalize drugs, we will create a lot of new jobs that can help us keep young people away from crime,” he went on. “Legalization will create jobs for engineers, retailers, farmers, processing professionals, manufacturers… All of the formerly marginalized people will find opportunity and well-paying jobs.”

Mexico And The Opioid Crisis

The excessive demand for opioids within the U.S. has created in a warfare between cartels in Mexico. Many drug lords need to be those supplying poppy to opioids producers, Mr. Fox defined. “And this is intrinsically related to the fact that poppy is grown illegally,” he famous.

“So, instead of having people kill each other, why not produce poppy legally in Mexico and export it, legally, to the U.S.?” he steered.

“Of course opioids are bad when they are used incorrectly. But opioids are also very useful and necessary to treat certain ailments.” So, we have to differentiate these two forms of makes use of and have our legal guidelines mirror this distinction, he concluded, calling for a complete drug legalization plan for the U.S., Mexico, and finally the entire world.

“We are on our way, decriminalizing drug use slowly; it’s just a matter of time before we can move to full legalization,” he ended.

Mr. Fox will host the CannaMexico World Summit on May 30 and May 31 in San Cristobal, Guanajuato, Mexico. You can register for this occasion beginning February fifth following this hyperlink.

Cannabis must be added to the North American Free Trade Agreement identical to some other type of produce, says former Mexican President Vicente Fox. Fox, who sits on the board of Toronto-based medical marijuana producer […]